Revive Thy Work

Watchman Nee

Sep 2009 · Christian Fellowship Publishers

About this ebook

“Revive thy work in the midst of the years” (Hab. 3.2). This was the cry of the prophet Habakkuk in view of the ruin and judgment of the nation of Judah. He pleaded with God that in wrath He would remember mercy. He was thereby shown that “the righteous shall live by his faith” (2.4): “for though the fig tree shall not flourish, neither shall fruit be on the vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no food; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet I will rejoice in Jehovah, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (3.17-18). By faith he saw the Lord coming in His glory, going forth for the salvation of His people and of His Anointed. Hence this cry of faith! We live in the last days. We see ruin all around, and yet with eyes of faith we can see God is working steadily towards the consummation of His eternal purpose. His work is one of recovery, restoring all the fullness of His riches in Christ which was once committed to the Church but which was lost through her unfaithfulness. By the grace given, the Church is yet to be arrayed in fine linen, the righteousness of the saints (Rev. 19.8). She is to be presented to Christ a glorious Church, holy and without blemish (Eph. 5.27). Today God is calling for the faithful to give themselves wholly to Him, to stand firmly with Him and to serve this purpose of His single-mindedly. Who will answer the call? In 1948 brother Watchman Nee gathered with his fellow workers from all over the country of China and spent more than a month together in the city of Shanghai, waiting upon the Lord and talking about the recovery work of God. Notes were taken by some of the attendees at these informal meetings. During these deliberations a wide range of subjects was discussed over and over again. As an aid to the reader’s focus, a rearrangement of these talks has been made in the present volume according to the topics considered and not according to the dates spoken. And though the reader will notice a few instances of repetition in some aspects of the material presented from talk to talk, it was felt it would be best not to delete them since in each case God’s servant was found approaching the subject at hand from a slightly different perspective, in pursuance of which he will be seen at times clarifying and enlarging further upon what was presented elsewhere. Nevertheless, to render these talks more universally applicable, all matters of local interest have been deleted. Generally, the topics covered in this volume are those such as the Way of Recovery, the History of Recovery, the Recovery of Body Life, the Recovery of Body Ministry, the Deliverance from Mammon, and New Testament Ministry. Let it be our prayer that God will use these messages to revive our spirits, renew our consecration, and reinforce our commitment to the recovery work of God in this last hour.

About the author

Watchman Nee was born in 1903 in Swatow, China as an answer to his mother's prayer. Having already borne two daughters, she prayed that if God should give her a son, she would give him back to God. As the boy grew up, he showed every sign of promise except he had no interest in things spiritual. It was not till he was seventeen years of age that he was met by the Lord. He knew at that time that he must accept Christ Jesus as his Savior, yet he struggled over the necessity of surrendering his life to the Lord. The love of Christ finally overwhelmed him and he capitulated to Christ. This was on April 29, 1920. He had such a love for the Word of God that he studied it almost incessantly, so within a very short period he had read the whole Bible several times. He began to witness for Christ to his school mates and soon earned the nickname of "the preacher". In searching the Scripture, he (with a few other believers) discovered 'the simplicity and purity that is towards Christ.' He determined to follow the Word of God explicitly and nothing but the Word. In 1927 he began his life work in Shanghai, where he was able to practice the vision which the Lord had shown him in the Word. He understood that the eternal purpose of God is Christ and His Church. Through the mighty working of the Holy Spirit and the faithful ministry of this servant of God, this testimony spread over the vast land of China. In 1949 the Communists took over China. Knowing what would be waiting for him back home, he nonetheless felt strongly his responsibility toward God and His Church. So he returned to China from Hong Kong in 1950. In April of 1952 he was seized and put in prison. He was later falsely accused as a master spy and was sentenced to twenty years of imprisonment. In prison he was not allowed to do anything but what was assigned him by prison authority. At the expiration of his sentence term, he was not released, and the news arrived quickly that he died faithful to the Lord.